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Nathaniel Lee Sparks is shown in June 2007, after he was charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with a shooting in East Preston in December 2006 that left two men dead. (File)

Nathaniel Lee Sparks is shown in June 2007, after he was charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with a shooting in East Preston in December 2006 that left two men dead. (File)

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Jerrell Corlando Johnston is shown in June 2007, after he was charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with a shooting in East Preston in December 2006 that left two men dead. (File)

Jerrell Corlando Johnston is shown in June 2007, after he was charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with a shooting in East Preston in December 2006 that left two men dead. (File)

Four people face charges after police raided several addresses in the Halifax area Thursday and seized almost a kilogram of cocaine, more than $400,000 in cash, a handgun and drug paraphernalia.

A six-month drug investigation culminated in police executing search warrants at homes on Spring Avenue, Micmac Boulevard and Portland Hills Drive in Dartmouth and on Walter Havill Drive and Charlotte Lane in Halifax.

Nathaniel Lee Sparks, 36, of Halifax; Jerrell Corlando Johnston, 36, of Dartmouth; and Merissa Marie Lee Herring, 30, of Halifax are all charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Sparks also faces charges of money laundering and possession of property obtained by crime for the purpose of trafficking, while Jerrell is charged with five firearms-related offences.

Sparks and Herring were arraigned in Halifax provincial court Friday, and Johnston appeared in Dartmouth provincial court.

The Crown exercised its right to have time to prepare for a bail hearing, so all three individuals’ cases were adjourned until Tuesday.

Brandy Alexandra Sparks, 38, of Dartmouth is accused of money laundering and possession of property obtained by crime for the purpose of trafficking. She was released by police on an undertaking and will appear in court in Halifax on Aug. 28.

In 2009, a Halifax jury acquitted Johnston and Nathaniel Sparks on two counts of second-degree murder in the December 2006 shooting deaths of Martaze Provo and Brandon Beals outside an East Preston after-hours club called Vegas.

But the same jurors found Johnston guilty of attempted murder in the shooting of a third man, Vantino Beals, as he ran from the gunfire.

Johnston received a 9.5-year sentence, but was credited with 34 months for his time on remand, leaving him with a net sentence of six years and eight months.

Justice Felix Cacchione also imposed a lifetime firearms prohibition on Johnston, who had previous convictions for careless storage of a gun, fraud under $5,000 and drug possession.

Sparks has convictions for possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, property mischief and breaching release conditions.